Barely Tolerable Shirt

Community Service. Two words I should be thankful for, but I’m not. I resent the hours it’s away from building my business. When they push the little girl into the room, her crazy curls barely held back by the barrette in her hair, and studious glasses on her face, I can tell she’s scared. Something inside of me breaks, and I want this girl to feel wanted again. What I’m unprepared for is meeting her mom. The second our hands touch, there are fireworks, bright lights, and a picture of the future I could one day have. The future I’ve never allowed myself to wish for. Community service becomes more than a chore. In the months that follow, I realize they’re just like me: they’ve been abandoned, left behind by the world, forgotten by those who should love them. Thanks to the one last hope in both our lives - we found the light in the darkness we’d been searching for.Trick is created by Laramie Briscoe, an eGlobal Creative Publishing author.

Elena Morgan thought she had it all, a loving husband, a bright future but her world began to crumble after learning her terminal illness had reached its final stage. Having to discover her husbands’ affair with her step sister on the night of their wedding anniversary. Betrayed, poisoned, and pushed down the stairs to her death. Elenas’ last thought was a desperate wish: “if I would do it over again, I would choose differently…..I would fight back ... .I would live for myself…..”. Elena wakes up a day to her wedding day, three years in the past. This time Elena refuses to marry the man who murdered her. In a moment of rage, she approaches Damien Carrington, the cold wealthy CEO, a single father who lost his wife who he cared deeply for. Elena barely knew him in her first life but still goes ahead to propose the unthinkable: A Contract Marriage. Can Elena rewrite her fate before death claims her again? And can a marriage that started as a contract become the love story they both deserve.

"I'm in love with the new teacher." I announced, and the whole room fell silent. I could barely look at mum. She was in anguish. I had brought those pains to her already fragile heart. I had broken her heart to a point where the pieces couldn't be mended together anymore. The judge cleared his throat, and peered closely at me. "Are you sure of what you just said, Devan Baker?" He quizzed. I glanced at Mum once more, and gave my reply. "Yes I am." I announced, and the whole room fell into uproar. I gazed at their faces. The irony of life. What was good for me, couldn't be good for you. I wasn't a minor any more, and so I could choose who I wanted to be in love with, or maybe I wasn't supposed to? However, I had chosen to fall in love with Ms. Ellen Dudley the new teacher, and the world thought I was wrong? What did the world know? Things had begun to get messy, and I was in deep shit...

The night I confessed my love to my girlfriend, she wept so hard she could barely breathe. She said she had seen the future, and she wanted to make a promise with me. I asked her why. She only shook her head and said, "I don't remember… all I know is that in the future I regret something terribly. Frank, no matter what happens, you must give me three chances. Will you?" I was deeply in love with Agnes Grey, so I agreed without hesitation. But later, it was as if she had forgotten all about that night—forgotten it when she clung so intimately to her male assistant. Only then did I understand why she'd made me promise that all those years ago. Because the moment I signed my name on the divorce papers, I heard a familiar voice. It was Agnes at nineteen. Through her sobs, she pleaded, "Frank… you promised me, didn't you? You said you'd give me three chances."

{Warning: R-18} "No, please don't do this to me," she whispered, her voice trembling with fear. "Have I ever shown mercy to anyone, my dear Mate? Why should you be an exception?" he retorted, his voice oozing with malice. "Please, I beg you, don't do this to me," she pleaded, her words barely audible amidst her sobs,"Why are you doing this? It's so painful. I hate you. Please stop." "How dare you try to escape from me? Do you think you have the courage to defy me?" he snarled, his voice dripping with venomous rage. "I'm sorry, please, I promise I won't repeat this mistake. Please, have mercy," she pleaded, her words forming a desperate melody. "Your begging is like sweet music to my ears, Angel," he taunted, his voice filled with sadistic pleasure,"You dared to run away from our marriage. Today, I am going to show you the extent of my power." "Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!"

Freya, born to Omega parents and unable to shift at sixteen, faced isolation and rejection. Alpha Dominic mated with her, then cruelly rejected her at dawn for being human. Devastated, Freya runs away, carrying a hidden secret-a three-year-old child. Four years later, fate brings them together again, igniting a tale of love, betrayal, and a bond that may or may not reignite. ***************** "You're f*cking mine, Freya," he growled, his words dripping with possessiveness. "No one else can satisfy you like I can." I gripped the sheets, while biting my lips as I surrendered to the relentless pleasure being thrusted between my thighs. "Yes, Alpha Dominic," I moaned, my voice barely above a whisper. "I'm yours, only yours." He gripped my hips tightly, his fingers digging into my skin possessively as he drove into me with unbridled passion. "Say it again," he demanded, his voice husky with desire. "I'm yours," I cried out, my voice rising with each thrust. "Yours forever."

Rowena, a wolfless omega and the infamous daughter of a murderer saw her life take a sudden turn for the worse on the day she discovered she was pregnant. While still dealing with the humiliation of her sudden canceled marriage and unknown to him she was pregnant, not only was she condemned for her barrenness, she was rejected by Sèbastien, her mate for his childhood sweetheart. Broken and sold out of the pack, her life was further complicated when she was accused of assault and thrown into jail where she barely managed to escape and ran into death. Three years later, Rowena had transformed into a resolute woman, fiercely guarding her twin treasures from the man who had once doubted her potential. With renewed vigor, Sèbastien embarks on a desperate chase to earn back the love he had once taken for granted. Now that the Alpha wants her back, will Rowena accept him or be with Alexander who had rescued her from the clutches of death and gave her a roof on her head when she was still weak? Or will their encounter be the beginning of her revenge?

When Marcus, a notorious playboy billionaire, makes a bet with his friends that he can get any woman to marry him, he never expected to fall for the one woman he chose purely on a whim. Nicole is a struggling artist, barely making ends meet, and when Marcus offers her a sum of money to enter into a contract marriage with him, she reluctantly agrees. At first, their relationship is purely business, but as they spend more time together, they begin to realize that there's something deeper between them. Marcus is a complex man with a troubled past, but Nicole sees something in him that no one else ever has. As they navigate the difficulties of a contract marriage, they begin to fall for each other, despite their initial reluctance. However, their newfound love is threatened by outside forces. Nicole’s ex-boyfriend, a jealous musician, tries to sabotage their relationship at every turn, and Marcus’s cutthroat business rivals see his marriage as an opportunity to bring him down. As they fight to protect their love, Marcus and Nicole must confront their demons and learn to trust each other to build a real, lasting relationship.

Riley Jordan thought office romance was safe, until she caught her long-term boyfriend with his pants down. Tangled between her boss’s legs. In the company conference room. One wild night meant to drown her heartbreak ends in a hotel suite, with a cold billionaire whose drink, like hers, had been spiked. She wakes up in his bed. He offers her a blank check for a night she can’t even remember. She tears it up and walks away. But Michael Gray doesn’t take rejection lightly. And when the woman who walked out on him turns out to be the marketing genius his empire desperately needs, he makes sure she’s left with no other option. Suddenly, she’s evicted, jobless, and barely surviving. Riley has no choice but to accept his deal. Only this time, she’s not the woman who breaks for anyone. What begins as control slowly turns into obsession. And when secrets finally explode, Riley must choose between her survival and the man who could ruin her.

Isla, the unwanted daughter of the Grayson family, has a shadow of rejection hovering over her. Her father, when he was alive, treated her with cold civility; her mother could barely tolerate her, and her sister despised her. After her sister travels abroad and refuses to come back, she is forced to marry her sister's fiance but her sister’s fiancé is not just any man; he is Alpha Lucien, the Alpha of Redridge Pack, who now hates her because of the marriage. After years of a loveless marriage, her sister returns and once again her life is pushed into a haul of negativity. She is banished from her home and left for dead but when it seems all hope is lost, she is saved by him. Alpha Killian, the lycan king, not only saves her but tells her she is his mate. After living a life of hardship, can she accept love when it comes from the most unlikely source? And how can she forget her past when it keeps coming back?