Define Gripped

“Give me your hands,” he ordered, coldly. I froze, watching him loosen his tie as he walked closer. Something about him felt… off. Mean. Distant. My throat went dry, but I gave him my hands anyway. He gripped my wrists—tight enough for my pulse to throb under his fingers. He wrapped the tie around them and pulled, dragging me up the bed like an animal on a leash. My back hit the headboard. Before I could react, he tied the other end of the tie to the frame. Then he reached for the veil on the nightstand. “What are you doing?” I asked, heart racing. He didn’t answer….just placed the veil over my head like I was a doll. “Making sure I don’t see your face and wish it was hers,” he said, unbuttoning his shirt. I blinked. “Hers?” He leaned in. His jaw clenched. “Your twin sister,” he said. “I wanted her. Not you.” His words felt like someone yanked the floor right under me. “I should be with her,” he added cruelly. “Loving her. Worshiping her. Not stuck with a knockoff pretending to be my wife.” I couldn’t breathe. My hands fought the tie, but it was useless. I was trapped, veiled and bound. Lucian didn’t want me. He wanted ‘her’ instead. —------------- Losing her clinic was devastating. Facing eviction was worse. But accepting a mysterious nursing job? That was desperation at its finest. What Scarlett Ashford didn’t expect was that her patient would be her terminally ill twin, the same sister she’d cut ties with. And Lucian Montgomery, her sister’s cold billionaire husband, offered her a proposition far beyond medical care. He wanted her to be his surrogate. Scarlett wonders—what twisted melodrama has she gotten herself into?

When Prince Aurelian is dragged before the Alpha King Vael, bloodied and shackled, he expects to die. Vael’s pack razed his kingdom, slaughtered his people—and now, Aurelian is nothing but a spoil of war. But fate is cruel. The gods made Aurelian his mate. Vael should kill him. Instead, he stares at the prince’s trembling lips, the delicate curve of his throat, the fire in his eyes—and all he can think about is how cruel the gods are and badly he wants to ruin him. "You hate me?" I murmured, brushing my lips over the delicate tip of his finger, tasting defiance on his skin. My other hand gripped the root of my cock, slow, aching, tight. "Good. I want you weeping when I take you—cursing me through clenched teeth while I fuck the fury out of your bones." But Aurelian is not some broken thing to be claimed. A voice calls to him in the dark, a forgotten god whispering promises of power, revenge—and freedom. All Aurelian has to do is surrender. Let it in. Let it take control. As rebellion brews and lust poisons every breath between them, Vael’s wolf wants to claim. Aurelian wants to destroy. But the bond is stronger than hate—and hunger always wins.