Blaise Baptist Church

“Forgive me, Father… for I’m about to sin again.” "Get on your knees and take my cock like it’s your only salvation. Hold it like you held your rosary tight, desperate. Suck it like it’s the only prayer left to save your filthy soul." She’s temptation wrapped in innocence. And I’m a sinner beneath this collar. ~~~~~~ When Mia Voss escapes heartbreak and moves in with her grandmother, the last thing she expects is to fall for the man behind the altar. Reverend Thorne Maddox—quiet, composed, and dangerously handsome—sees right through her walls.And she sees what he's trying to hide.Their encounters are supposed to be innocent, church duties, quiet confessions, polite conversation. But glances linger too long. Words slip too close to sin. And when she falls into his arms… it stops being holy.In a town full of watching eyes and sacred vows, desire becomes the ultimate sin. But the deeper they fall, the harder it becomes to let go. Where salvation ends… temptation begins. ❕ ❕Trigger/Content Warnings:This story contains themes of religious conflict, age gap, power imbalance, sensual scenes, and morally gray decisions. Reader discretion is advised 100% Sex ❕

"You were never her, Aria. You were just... there." Jason's words echo in my head as I stand in the back of the church, watching him mourn another woman on her sister's wedding day. Isabelle. The perfect dead girlfriend. The ghost I've been competing with for three years. I thought I could be enough. I thought love could grow where grief once lived. But when I find the evidence, when I see the hotel receipts, the text messages, the photos of Jason with Isabelle's sister Violet, I realize the truth. I was never the love story. I was the intermission. What I don't know yet is that nothing about my marriage was real. Not Jason's cruelty. Not Violet's affair. Not the stranger's rescue. They've all been playing a game, and I'm the prize they're willing to destroy each other for. When the truth comes out, when I discover why Isabelle really died and who's been pulling the strings, I'll have to decide: Do I let them destroy me, or do I burn their whole world down?

FORMERLY TITLED THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT "Do you, William Hugh White take Jennifer Benjamin King to be your lawfully wedded wife? To cherish and to adore, to respect and to love for the rest of your life?" Mr. William Hugh nodded. "I do." "Do You, Jennifer Benjamin King take William Hugh White to be your lawfully wedded husband, to cherish and to adore, to respect and to love for the rest of your life?" Jennifer turned to her mother, then to her father who had a huge scowl on his face. He looked like he could do anything to her and her mother if she tried to do anything other than she was told. "I do." she answered. "Does anyone sitting in the church right now, have a tangible reason as to why this marriage should not be held? If you do, then speak up now, or forever hold your peace." "I do." Jennifer finds herself suspended from school on her father's wish, and he tells she will get married to some man. In a bid to escape, she falls in the hands of Elijah who instead asks to marry her. She needs to run, and he is offering her a way out. With no other way out, she accepts.

Everything was going downhill. Caterina Mari Santelli is having trouble. At first she struggled to remember who the man in her hospital room was. Now, she doesn't exactly know if she loves him or hates him even more (the thought of planning a wedding to a man you hate isn't exactly inviting). She's also in distress knowing that her plans aren't going the way she planned. To add to her list of dilemmas, she's having PTSD and is afraid to even hold a gun, much more shoot one. Lucas De Marchi is just a dazed man walking. Something warm towards Caterina was building inside of him. He knows exactly what that feeling is and knows exactly how dangerous it is. But despite his efforts to stop his feelings, he always finds himself doing dirty business with her or for her. He's confused about Mari, and he's worried about his family and his sanity. To finally put that luscious cherry on top, Matteo Santelli, Caterina's uncle, has heard of her and Lucas' soon-to- be-wedding and is mad for being uninvited. Now the church doors are open. Only problem is, no one knows exactly if it's for a wedding or a funeral.

“You walked into the wrong place at the wrong time, Alvina,” he said quietly, his eyes cold as steel. “Now, you’re mine….” When Alvina Frost runs away from an arranged marriage to a man ten times her age, the last thing she expects is to stumble into another. Desperate and terrified, she hides inside a church, only to interrupt a grand wedding ceremony that changes her life forever. Before she can understand what’s happening, the groom — billionaire CEO Ethan Kale — claims her as his fiancée in front of the entire congregation. To the world, she’s the woman who stole another’s groom. To Ethan, she’s the perfect solution to his corporate scandal. And to herself, she’s just a pawn trapped in a dangerous game she never agreed to play. Forced to live under the same roof with a man who hides his pain behind a cold façade, Alvina must survive his rules, his silence, and his secrets. But as days turn into nights, she discovers that lies can turn into something far more dangerous—feelings. “Sign the contract,” Ethan said. “Be my wife for six months. No love. No strings attached. No touching.” But as her heart begins to betray her, Alvina realizes that some lies are too deep to escape.

Eidolon Avenue: Where the secretly guilty go to die. One building. Five floors. Five doors per floor. Twenty-five nightmares feeding the hunger lurking between the bricks and waiting beneath the boards. The sequel to Eidolon Avenue: The First Feast (“a great read...powerful and jarring” - Cemetery Dance) returns to the voracious Eidolon as it savors The Second Feast. A narcoleptic man in apartment 2A battles a vengeful past determined to rob him of everything as he runs from the barbaric disaster of a delusional love. A woman in 2B, reinventing herself to please a callous boyfriend, discovers the horrors that wait in the shadows of her self-renovation. The man in 2C, a teacher at the nearby Catholic girl’s school, collapses beneath the brutal consequences of his lecherous desires. An older woman in 2D, after decades dedicated to the church, is cornered at last by the grisly carnage beating at the hollow center of her faith. And a college student in 2E, hungry to escape an ignored life of invisible anonymity, finds herself captured between the pages of a ravenous book. All thrown into their own private hell as every cruel choice, every drop of spilled blood, every silent, complicit moment of cowardice is remembered, resurrected and relived to feed the ancient evil that lives on Eidolon Avenue. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

Years ago, I, Ella Marin, became the wife of Andrew Lorenzo, the underboss of the Lorenzo family. Sadly, my last three years were spent in prison after I caused a fatal car accident. I heard plenty of “good news” about my husband while I did my time. Andrew had officially taken over the Lorenzo family once the Don had stepped down. He then spent a fortune on a woman called Rose Gunfire and was rumored to have had a one-night stand with a rival. He was also seen acting intimately with Sophia, the Principessa of the Rossi family, and private photos of them kept appearing online. When the underboss came to warn me about Andrew, I remained calm. “The Don says that as long as you don’t cry or make a scene, you’ll still have a place in the Lorenzo family after your release.” I replied quietly, “So he has women on the side. I can handle that.” Three days before that, the church’s hospital had called to tell me that my mother was terminally ill. Since the Lorenzo family could help find a kidney donor, I agreed to a marriage in name only. All for my mother’s sake.

What would you do if, on the day of your wedding, someone unexpectedly showed up not to congratulate you but rather to interrupt this very special day of yours? Gavin had been looking forward to this momentous occasion, but unfortunately, it was ruined by the lies of an unknown woman. Worse yet, she claimed to be pregnant and that Gavin was the father of the child she was carrying. The marriage he dreamed of was all but ruined. The woman who was to be his bride began to despise him and ultimately abandoned him at the altar. His family, almost disowned him and was fuming mad at what happened. As well as the people closest to him, they all hated him. Then, the woman who had ruined his wedding day suddenly vanished like a mere bubble. This was the catalyst for everything that had happened. It may appear to be a hopeless situation, but unfortunately, that is what transpired in Gavin's life. Things went from bad to worse. After some time had passed, Gavin was taken aback when he ran into her again. The woman that he had always looked forward to talking to. The same woman who, many years ago, made the announcement in front of the church that she was expecting his child. What steps ought to be taken? And how can Gavin exact revenge on the woman who destroyed his life when it was during this time that he found the love of his life?

Happiness is the only emotion a broken soul can't seem to experience. They can only dream of it and hopefully find serenity to fill the void, with the hopes of one day being able to feel it in their being. Akaiia Bleau Stepanova, is she destined to feel this brokenness forever or does her initial definition even begin to cover what true brokenness feels like? Let the flames of life and death drain my essence. An evil thought that grinds in my brain since I heard of my sentence. A bitterness that made himself at home inside of me. Sometimes I just wish I could change my fate, but yes it is just wishful talk. My story is one full of emotion. Treason, hate, love and pretend. A wild combination, you might say. .... "I do." She says with the most beautiful smile, one that even reaches her eyes. One so rare and truly beautiful to witness. "Aiden River King, what is your answer? Do you take Akaiia Bleau Stepanova as your lawful wedded wife?" The priest questions. As soon as I'm about to answer a voice I remember to clearly ego's through the church walls. ... The tears staining her eyes are like daggers in my chest.

A forbidden obsession burned between two men from different worlds. Salvatore Esposito, the notorious Mafia boss known as Diablo, was consumed by his desire for Ethan, a devout pastor. Their paths crossed at Diablo's bar and nightclub, where Ethan's innocence and purity immediately captivated the ruthless devil blackened heart. Diablo's fascination with Ethan grew as he secretly observed the pastor's every move, learning his likes and dislikes but when Ethan's wedding day arrived, Diablo's possessiveness boiled over. He stormed the church in a shocking display of power and Diablo kidnapped Ethan, vowing to make the straight pastor fall in love with him. Ethan, determined to resist Diablo's advances, accepted the challenge but as they navigated their twisted game, a hidden enemy emerged, threatening to destroy both men. However, with each attack that came their way, Ethan began to see Diablo in a different light, glimpsing the complexities beneath the Diablo's facade, he realized that there is more to Diablo than he shows. As the pastor and the devil forged an unlikely understanding, the question remained: could Ethan truly fall in love with Diablo, or was the Mafia boss doomed to suffer for a love that could never be his? Would their differences tear them apart, or could they find a way to bridge the gap between their worlds?