Grinned And Bared It Novels & Stories

Athena Moretti was the brilliant mind behind NexusTech, but to the world, she was just a nobody. When her fiancé, Marcus Vance, publicly humiliates her, steals her revolutionary cybersecurity code, and hands her empire to another woman, Athena is left with nothing but a burning thirst for revenge. Enter Lucien Laurent. Ruthless, brilliant, and the most feared venture capitalist in the country, Lucien is old money incarnate. He offers Athena an untouchable legal team, unlimited resources, and a state-of-the-art lab to rebuild her software and crush Marcus. But his help comes with a dangerous price. To destroy Marcus from the inside out, Athena must sign a one-year contract to play a part she never prepared for: Lucien’s fiancée. The catch? Lucien is Marcus’s estranged, older step-brother. Living under Lucien’s roof, the lines between corporate warfare and bared desires begin to blur. Every stolen glance is a sin; every touch is an electric violation of their professional rules. Athena convinces herself that she is just using his power to get her life back. Until a dark secret from the past unravels, revealing that the man protecting her from the devil might actually be the one who ruined her family first. Can Athena successfully play a game where the heart is the ultimate liability, or will she realize too late that her silent partner is the most dangerous enemy of all?

"I'll cut to the chase. I'm the villainess in this story." Everyone in this wealthy, elite family adored my poor, fragile adopted sister. My older brother Damien would snap, "Don't scare Bella. Her weak heart can't take it." My other brother, Magnus, would add, "Lend Bella your nightgown, all right? It's wasted on you." Even my fiancé said, "This is nothing more than a marriage of convenience. My true love has always been Bella." In my last life, I humbled myself endlessly to please them. What did I receive in return? They sent me to a mental asylum and I died in agony. Then I came back to life on the day of my engagement party. A voice echoed in my mind and made its announcement. [The Madness Reward System has chosen you, Marceline Blanc. Any unhinged behavior will earn rewards worth hundreds of millions of dollars.] I grinned and sent the pompous, ten-tier cake crashing to the floor. "I'm done with this shitty family. Goodbye, you miserable bastards."

My father was hit by a car. When I found the perpetrator, my wife, Jessie Ford, stepped out of the passenger seat with her clothes in disarray. I stayed at the hospital to care for my father, yet Jessie stayed with the perpetrator at the police station while he was being questioned. I refused to settle the case, and she picked up a thermos and struck my head. “He’s a lawyer. Do you want to ruin his career? What are you trying to do?” I calmly wiped the blood from my forehead and looked at Jessie, who stood there flustered and slow to understand the situation. This was not Jessie’s first affair, but it was the most serious one. I suddenly remembered the fifth year of our marriage when she grinned at me and said, “Don’t you get tired of sleeping with only one person for the rest of your life? To be fair, I won’t interfere with how you fool around. What I give them is sex; what I give you is love.” Later, I did exactly what she suggested and got involved with the girl she sent to me, yet she begged me to come back.

What will Hosun and Jun give in to, in order to be free? Jung Hosun, a broke college student gets kidnapped the same night Doctor Kim Jun also gets kidnapped. This because of a huge misunderstanding. Coincidence is, they're both made captives of very powerful, wealthy and influential men. Min Yoonjin and Kim Namgyu are both CEOs of two different companies that are linked by a partnership deal. These two are friends and are both involved in the Mafia business, unbeknownst to the outside world. What happens when these powerful men end up with handsome and innocent prisoners?

My brother-in-law, Benjamin Fallow, got trapped in a deep pit, so I grabbed some ropes and risked my life to climb down and pull him out. Just after I tied the rope around his waist, the line went slack and we both came crashing down. When I looked up, I couldn't believe my eyes. My wife, Celeste Fallow, had cut the rope. Meanwhile, her childhood friend, Vincent Jameson, grinned and egged her on. "Do it." Black-clad bodyguards started shoveling sand into the hole, trying to bury us alive. I grabbed the walkie-talkie and screamed up at her, "Celeste, your brother and I are still down here!" She sneered back. "Three years ago, during the quake, you left Vincent's brother trapped under the rubble for five days while you saved others. Now it's time to pay what you owe." Vincent shed crocodile tears and crowed, "Celeste, thanks to you, my brother's revenge is finally complete." With the sand already up to our ankles, I shouted at the top of my lungs, "Celeste Fallow, your brother is really down here with me!"

Calen was a benchwarmer on the university swim team, someone who never actually competed. The captain, Karl, was everything he wasn’t, a campus golden boy. Three records broken. A new girlfriend every other week. One night, Calen realized he’d left something behind and went back to the locker room. That was when he heard it. Ragged breathing. Strained, barely held back. And beneath it… the slow, awful sound of metal bending under pressure. He pushed the door open. Karl stood with his back to him. His bare muscles writhed beneath his skin, moving wrong, his spine standing out in sharp ridges. His fingers were dug deep into the steel locker, nails tearing through metal, leaving long, brutal gouges. The air was thick with the smell of blood… and something wild. Predatory. Karl snapped around. His eyes burned gold in the dark. Blood stained the corner of his mouth, and when he bared his teeth, the canines were far too long. Far too sharp. He ran. He barely took two steps before something crashed into him from behind, slamming him to the floor. Karl’s weight pinned him down, his body radiating heat… too hot, almost painful. A low voice brushed his ear. “You saw something you weren’t meant to see.” “I won’t say anything….” Karl lowered his head, his nose grazing his neck as he inhaled slowly, deeply. “…You smell fucking irresistible.”

Six months after our divorce, my ex-wife, Shanon Reich went viral with her new influencer boyfriend, Tobias Hunt, gaining over ten million followers. One day, by sheer accident, I scrolled into their livestream and saw my three-year-old daughter, Ginny Herbert, trapped inside a car. She was crying so hard she could barely breathe. Her little face was flushed, her eyes wide with fear and confusion. She looked utterly helpless. Shanon didn't smash the window, nor did she call the police. Instead, she laughed brightly at the camera. "Thank you to our top fan for the moneybag gift!" Then she grinned and said, "Send another moneybag! I'll smash the window once I get it, okay?" I lost my mind. I raced over like a madman and wrenched the car keys out of her hand. "Leomund Herbert! Are you insane?" she screamed. "Do you know how much this stream is worth? It's just a little heat! She's not going to die!" I held my daughter in my arms. Her tiny body was limp, and she was barely conscious. With reddened eyes, I pointed at her and shouted, "Shanon Reich! You will pay for this!"

Roxanne Grant has always been one to live her life according to her rules. Blessed with a handsome and capable fiancé and a dream job, she couldn’t have imagined a life better, until she discovers that her fiancé had been cheating with his secretary for a long time. Enraged and heartbroken, Roxanne decides to take revenge but accidentally bumped into Lance Laurent, Los Angeles’s hottest bachelor and heir to Laurent cop and the stepbrother of his fiancé. After that one steamy night, things began to get more complicated, spiraling out of Roxanne’s control and down a lane of lust. And much to her surprise, the L.A’s hottest bachelor doesn't plan on letting go of her anytime soon. ** ** ** "Thinking of another man while having me? Tell me, is my time a joke to you, woman?” Lance had grabbed her chin to meet his gaze harshly. With his words, Roxanne grinned as she placed the last of her concerns behind. Wrapping her legs around his waist and pulled him closer, she answered him in a slurry voice. “You have my full attention now, so you better make it worth the while.”

“What do you want?" A smile played on his lips. “I'll tell you five things.” He slowly walked around me. I tried not look at him as I waited for whatever he wanted to say. “One, I will make love to you and you will enjoy it.” He smirked when he saw the look on my face. “You're insane if you think..” “Second, I will make love to you over and over again, any day, anytime I want.” He grinned when I got uncomfortable. “Mr. Grey ..” “Third, you will not tell anyone, not even Vera. You will not tell her you've been fucking her husband.” He smiled. “I want to see you try.” I snapped. “I will not let you get away with this.” “Four, I will divorce Vera because it's you that I want.” My heart skipped a beat. Why is he doing this? “You will not hurt Vera like that. I will not let you.” I said, moving closer to him. “Fifth, we will get married and live happily ever after and you'll give me babies and you will not feel bad for your sister.” He concluded.

“I’m nothing to you. My presence repulses you, but the lust in your eyes is clear, Malakai Phantom.” I spat right in his face. The ruthless Alpha King only grinned… then licked my spit off his skin. “You’re playing with me,” I whispered, trembling. He leaned closer, his shadow swallowing me whole. And then his lips claimed mine. The Alpha King claimed me. ** Angelique Manchester was never the kind to bow. Not to her hateful mother. Not to the filthy merchant who bought her like property. But Malakai Phantom? He’s different. Dangerous. A man who rejects her with one breath and owns her with the next. Years after their fateful night, Angelique has rebuilt her life. She lives in the sun until it was taken from her. Then the darkness storm back in. It's cold. Powerful. Unforgiving. It's Malakai Phantom. He says she owes him. Fate says she’s his. And the fire between them says they’re both lying. In a world where betrayal bleeds deeper than love, Angelique must face the man who ruined her and the truth that might destroy them both. Because once the Alpha King claims you ... He never lets go.