Novel & Cerita A Very Long Engagement Novel

"Forty Flames" An erotic anthology of 40 scorching stories where desire ignites in the most unexpected places. From the quiet intensity of a late-night office confrontation between a demanding professor and his brilliant graduate student, to the charged silence of a stuck elevator, a storm-lashed lighthouse, and forbidden hotel rooms—each tale explores the raw, electric moment when restraint finally snaps. Whether it’s rivals turning lovers, age-gap temptations that refuse to be denied, best friends’ siblings crossing sacred lines, or carefully negotiated nights of dominance and surrender, these stories dive deep into the delicious friction between intellect and hunger, power and vulnerability, shame and need. Featuring blistering boy/girl encounters, passionate boy/boy connections, intoxicating girl/girl seductions, plus stories rich with age-gap tension, taboo longing, and explicit BDSM/kink dynamics, Forty Flames delivers a full spectrum of desire. Every story is packed with slow-burn sexual tension, sharp emotional insight, and scenes that will leave you breathless—intimate, consensual, and unapologetically hot. Step inside these pages and surrender to the kind of heat that rewrites the rules. --- Content Warning: This collection contains explicit sexual content, graphic depictions of sex, strong language, and mature themes including power dynamics, age-gap relationships, taboo/forbidden scenarios, and BDSM/kink elements. Intended for adult readers (18+) only. Reader discretion is strongly advised. All encounters are consensual.

The night before our Mating Ceremony, my fated mate, Alpha Ryker of the Howling Moon Pack, ordered me to give him the Moon Soul Crystal—the very thing that protected my pack, the Willow Creek Pack. He said he needed it to power up the Howling Moon Pack's Blood Moon Altar. He also promised he'd keep me and my people safe. But he didn't know that we, the healers of the Willow Creek Pack, can only create one Moon Soul Crystal in our entire lives. Making one takes a crazy amount of moon energy. It's the treasure that keeps our pack alive. My mother, worried about me using up my moon energy while I was pregnant, gave up her own Moon Soul Crystal instead. But just three months after Ryker and I were mated, she got sick, fast. She was dying. I knelt in front of Ryker, crying, begging him for the Silverleaf Herb from the Howling Moon's forbidden grounds. It was the only thing that could save my mom. But he just looked at me, his eyes full of disappointment, and kicked me away. "I asked for the Moon Soul Crystal to test you," he snarled. "And just as I thought, you married me for our pack's treasures! Your mother's not sick. You're making it all up!" "You don't deserve to be the Luna of the Howling Moon Pack!" It wasn't until after my mother died, when he was arguing with me, trying to kick me out of the pack, that my mother's things fell and scattered everywhere. Her Soul Stone, the symbol of a wolf's spirit, shattered. That's when he finally realized he was wrong. He fell to his knees, begging me not to leave, crying for me to forgive him.

Alpha Jakob gave me the grandest bonding ceremony five years ago. I became the world's most envied woman. Five years later, I received a provocative voice message from Jakob's first love, Molly. "I just got back to the pack, and all I needed to do was to play coy with Jakob, and he came right over. Tonight, he originally prepared blue fireworks for me. I don't like blue, but I decided to give it to you since I never liked to waste. You can use it during your anniversary." The day during our fifth mate bond anniversary, I looked at the blue fireworks blooming in the night sky, quietly waiting in my seat as I faced the empty seat opposite me. Molly's provocation came again. A photo of her having a candlelight dinner with Jakob. I didn't cry, and simply submit the application to terminate my mate bond with Jakob to the pack's Elder Council. At this time, my personal assistant told me she saw someone had applied for a grand bonding ceremony. "Luna Cynthia, the bonding ceremony is prepared by Molly for herself and Alpha Jakob. It will take place seven days later. Do you wish to stop it?" "There's no need to. If this is what Jakob wants, I'll make their wish come true." Jakob was still promoting how deep his love for me was, saying that I was the woman he loved the most in his life. But he didn't know that seven days later, I would leave the pack and never return again. That night, he collapsed.

Shana ward is the son of a wealthy businessman in their city. However, Shana's wealth status is hidden from the public to prevent her father's enemies from targeting Shana. Shana's life was fine before she met Dennis. Shana accidentally entering Dennis's room while running away from her father's enemies is the cause of everything. Dennis was a famous actor at the time. Their second meeting at a nightclub changes Dennis and Shana's lives. In a state of drunkenness, they both tied the knot with a contract. Since marrying Dennis, Shana's life has never been peaceful with her father's enemies getting to know her and Dennis who doesn't love her because indeed Dennis already has a girlfriend named Bethany. In silence, Bethany often messes up Shana's life. Will Shana's life be restless until the end and will Dennis open his heart to Shana? Stay tuned in the story Regret: Love that Changes Everything.

Kayla Stone has been married for two years, but somehow, she’s still a virgin. Her husband has never touched her. He humiliated her, controlled her, broke her; but just never took her body. So on one reckless night, desperate to feel truly wanted, a drunk Kayla surrenders her innocence to a stranger in a New York lounge. That stranger happens to be Gabriel Pearson. Her husband’s uncle. The same man who wrecked her heart eight years ago and disappeared to Italy. On the night the ruthless kingpin of the Italian mafia world returns to New York, he visits a lounge and runs into none other than his drunk niece in-law. Kayla Stone. The same woman he has deluded himself into thinking he has gotten over for the past eight years. That night, he makes an earth-shattering discovery when pushes inside her and meets the barrier her husband never claimed. His nephew’s wife was untouched, until him. How was that even possible? This night of passion which was supposed to be a mistake, steers something dark and possessive within Gabriel. Kayla wasn’t his to be claimed, but fuck the consequences.

I'm the primary surgeon of the nation's biggest medical malpractice case. Apparently, I've screwed up intentionally in a joint surgery that leads to the instant deaths of five patients. My wife, Wanda Johnson's mother is one of them. The medical world purges my name immediately. The Internet demands that I pay the price with my own life. The patients' families kneel before the court with a petition. With tears running down my cheeks, they plead to the court to sentence me to death. In order to ease the public outrage, the court decides to euthanize me. The head of the investigative team of the health department wants to activate Project Nightingale. With the power of AI, the truth of what happened in the surgery will be re-enacted. But Wanda, who also works as a police officer, shoots that idea down. "There's no need for that. Do you actually want the patients' families to witness how their loved ones die again? The youngest patient is just an eight-year-old, you know! Let's just euthanize him!"

I receive a message one day. "Your condoms have been delivered. Total to be paid: XX dollars." I distinctly remember that I've never made such an order, but the address and phone number are mine. I call my husband, but he only says differently, "My godsister ordered them. She's too shy to use her details, so she used yours. It's not like it'll affect you." I nod silently. She might as well not have them if she can't afford to pay for them.

At seventeen, my life was a masterpiece of precision and envy. I had the "Golden Girl" title to my name: a perfect family who adored me, a circle of loyal friends I’d known since childhood, and a straight shot to Yale University. To top it off, I was moments away from making it official with Sean—the wealthiest, most sought-after guy in school. My world was a fortress of safety and success, but I didn't realize how easily a fortress could be infiltrated from the inside. Everything shattered the moment Ginger McKenna walked through my front door. A "distant cousin" with the face of an angel and the soul of a viper, she dismantled my perfect life in less than forty-eight hours. With calculated tears and expert lies, she turned my parents into strangers, my friends into critics, and my teachers into skeptics. She didn't just want a place to stay; she wanted to wear my skin, steal my boy, and claim my future. But Ginger made one fatal mistake: she mistook my silence for defeat. She thinks she’s the only one who knows how to play a part, but I’ve been the lead in this story for years. To win this war, I’m bringing in my secret weapon—Declan Johnson. He’s the boy from the shadows of my childhood, the only person who truly knows me, and the only person Ginger won't see coming. If she wants to take everything I cherish, I’ll give her the ultimate bait. She wants to play the victim? I’ll play the villain. One thing they are right about is that I always get what I want. If she wants to play games, I am also in; it takes two to play the game.

My daughter, Nora Tyler, has congenital heart disease. When her disease relapses once again, I scoop her into my arms and travel to the hospital on foot on a rainy night. By the time I reach the hospital, I accidentally see the note my husband, Lionel Tyler, has left for the doctor. "I don't care what you do, be it dragging the time out to kill Nora or failing to save her life. No matter what, Nora isn't allowed to leave the hospital alive! "Chloe's due date is almost here. I want you to pay more attention to her. Only her child has the right to become the first child of the Tyler family." I can only stare at the note with bloodshot eyes. At that time, the medical staff has already wheeled Nora out from the ER. A white sheet can be seen draping over her body. When I was still pregnant with Nora, Lionel had taken leave for two years just to take care of me. He truly viewed me as the apple of his eye back then. After I gave birth to Nora, he even purchased an island and named it after her. My favorite gardenias filled every inch of that island. The Lionel who once refused to take any other woman but me as his wife and had prioritized me more than his own life… is also the same man who has personally killed his own daughter just because his first love, Chloe Meyer, is pregnant. My heart has officially died. After leaving a divorce agreement behind, I go home and inherit my family business. Now, Lionel can never hope to reach me ever again.

Yvonne Carter once believed love meant endurance, patience and sacrifice. She gave up her career, her dreams, and her pride to become Adrian Blake’s wife. For three years, she waited in a cold marriage where love never came. When Adrian asks for a divorce to protect the woman he truly loves, Yvonne signs the papers without a tear and walks away quietly. What he does not know is that the woman he divorced was never weak. After the divorce, Yvonne returns to the world she once abandoned. She rebuilds her life, regains her identity, and rises higher than anyone expected. The woman who once waited at home becomes someone Adrian can no longer reach. As Adrian realizes what he lost, he begins a desperate pursuit to win back the wife he never valued, But Yvonne is no longer willing to trade her future for a love that came too late. When the past refuses to let go and the future demands a choice, Yvonne must decide Should she walk away forever? Or give the man who broke her heart one final chance.