Delights

She pure, he was not. He was a creature of the night, bound by a secret set of laws and rules not known by the humans. She was the human who turned his long life upside down. She was the unsuspecting young woman, who never imagined her life would become this. She could never go back to her life the way it was before she met him. His life would never go back to the way it was before their chance encounter either, he'd broken the rules, and one day he would have to pay the price. Fate had deemed them one, but both societies were determined to never let that happen.

***Updates are now on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday*** After her abusive father nearly kills them in a fit of rage, Kiera and her mother make a run for it. They run to a town in the middle of nowhere to start afresh. On her first day in high school, Kiera has a run in with the most popular but in school - Mason King. He is a spoilt, handsome jerk who delights in tormenting Kiera. What Kiera fails to realize is that the more she pushes back and stands up for herself, the more Mason's beast is roused to make her submit to him. A dangerous, dark game of prey and predator ensues. Tired of overbearing alpha males who always get their way, Kiera vows never to let Mason win this game of theirs. But how much is Kiera willing to lose to come out as the victor? Her dignity, her mother...her heart?

The things we want are so very rarely the things we need. Clifton Heights, a modest Adirondack town, offers many unique attractions. Arcane Delights sells both paperbacks and hard-to-find limited editions. The Skylark Diner serves the best home-cooked meals around, with friendly service and a smile. Every August, Mr. Jingo’s County Fair visits, to the delight of children and adults. In essence, Clifton Heights is the quintessential small American town. Everyone knows everyone else, and everyone is treated like family. It is quiet, simple, and peaceful. But shadows linger here. Flitting in dark corners, from the corner of the eye. If you walk down Main Street after dark, the slight scrape of shoes on asphalt whispers you're not alone, but when you look over your shoulder, no one is there. The moon shines high and bright in the night sky, but instead of throwing light, it only seems to make the shadows lengthen. Children disappear. Teens run away. Hunters get lost in the woods with frightening regularity. Husbands go mad, and wives vanish in the dead of night. And still, when the sun rises in the morning, you are greeted by townspeople with warm waves and friendly smiles, and the shivers pass as everything seems fresh and new... Until night falls once more. Handy's Pawn and Thrift sits several blocks down from Arcane Delights. Like any thrift store, its wares range from the mundane to the bizarre. By daylight, it seems just another slice of small town Americana. But in its window hangs a sign which reads: We Have Things You Need. And when a lonely traveling salesman comes looking for something he desperately wants, after normal visiting hours, after night has fallen, he will face a harsh truth among the shelves of Handy’s Pawn and Thrift: the things we want are rarely the things we need. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

[Mature Content] Caitlin Rowell, a young, orphaned girl who was adopted by a devious woman, is thrown into a life of difficulties after a traumatic encounter with a handsome, well-off young man who delights in having his way with women, and she becomes pregnant with his child. Her guardian throws her out of the house, leaving her with no choice but to fend for herself. She relocates to a distant city with the help of a wealthy obstetrician who is obliged to support her. In the new city, she gets a cleaning job at a major private corporation after having her child, and the CEO turns out to be her worst nightmare.