Hand To Myself

I was scheduled to die in less than 24hrs from now. And the person who conspires to put me out of my miserable life is the one who put me through hell. His hell. My husband. I didn't mind dying. I was rather happy to finally get this thing over with. You know, get over life. But just when I was ready to rest in peace, I met her. Her beautiful blue eyes glittered with tears bringing light to this moonless night. The cold breeze brought a shiver to her fragile tiny body. She looked nothing less than a porcelain doll, delicate and clean. But she scared me when she looked at me with hope. Hope to save her. I laughed at this naive little girl. How was I to save her when I couldn't save myself? Nevertheless, I extended my hand for her to take, and with some hesitation, she wrapped her whole hand around my one finger. First time in my meaningless life I felt a spark. Spark of life enlightened in me with her one innocent touch. She made me want to live a little while longer with a small innocent promise, holding me tight to live with her, for her. Cover by @Aphroditelivid

I believe it is yours Renee" the way my name rolled off his tongue sent a jolt of pleasure right into my core, causing my legs to squeeze together, but I still couldn’t bring myself to look into his eyes, he extended his hand revealing my lost necklace. "It smells like you." His voice almost breathless. I could feel his chest touch my back. He didn't need to be this close to put a necklace on me. His smell was overpowering me, my legs felt weak causing me to lean into him a little more. “You run really fast; you know?" He said with a laugh, he was so close I could feel his breath fan my ear then I could have sworn he brought his head even closer to the nook of my neck and took a deep breath of my scent. My breath hitched in my lungs, and I squeezed my eyes closed telling myself that this must just be a dream. “There, back where it belongs.” I awkwardly replied. "Thank you, Alpha," I felt like every cell in my body was vibrating. I was becoming very aroused, and it was embarrassing if I barely moved, it might have caused me to moan in pleasure. What would he think of me, being so aroused in his presence.

"Why is it that everytime I met you, you were busy running from me?" He asked me, his hand still holding mine captured above my head. I felt powerless. I couldn't do anything. I hate being vulnerable. No matter what I've always loved to have a sense of power in me but with Michael Milan it just seems impossible. He was like hard drugs mixed together in my system. No matter what I do, I just couldn't get away from him. "Because I'm saving myself from you, Micheal." I whispered softly. "You will destroy me if I get too close." A love at first sight. A love that was so wrong and so right at the same time. Aisling was torn between protecting what she loves and surrendering.

A heatwave swept across the surface of the Earth right after the end of boot camp. Temperatures rose to 200 degrees Fahrenheit, and all electronic items stopped functioning. Even our water source had all dried up. I was lucky that I never liked the taste of water in college, and I always had five boxes of bottled water standing by in my hostel room. If I rationed my water, I could sustain myself until help arrived, but our instructor suddenly requested everyone to hand in their water to be managed by one person. "We're a group, and it's only by working together that we will be able to sustain ourselves until help arrives! Whoever doesn't hand in their bottled water will be considered the common enemy!" I had no choice but to hand in all the water I had. However, the instructor was not fair with his water rationing. He would give the women one bottle a day, while I only had one bottle cap's worth of water. "You're a man, aren't you? It doesn't matter if you have less water. Do you really want to fight the fairer sex for a little water? The ladies should be pampered like princesses. Can't a man like you bear some responsibility to take care of them?" I wanted to argue with him, but my girlfriend, who was also my childhood sweetheart, helped the instructor tie me up and flung me under the sun to be burned to death. When I opened my eyes next, I had returned to the day before the heatwave. This time, I moved all of my water into a cave and watched gleefully as that lecherous instructor got thrown under the sun by his pampered female trainees to be burned.

“I think it's about time you devour me.” I heard him say and I blinked. What was he talking about? A frown creased my face. His confidence and graceful poise seem to unnerve me. He had something about him I couldn't figure out, yet. “Wh-a-t did you say?” I stuttered, forcing myself to tear my eyes away from his face. He chuckled, then leaned closer to my ears. “I asked when you were going to devour me.” I flinched. What was he playing at? Was he flirting with me so openly? I willed myself to ignore his statement. I had a bigger task at hand to let myself be bothered by a pretty man. I cleared my throat and his eyes were now focused on me. “I have no time for your gimmicks. Excuse me.” I was leaving when I felt his hands draw me back. “You leave only when I ask you to.” He growled and I instantly felt my knees weaken. His voice carries with it some kind of authority. I felt my wolf curl inside of me. I have so many questions racing in my head. Who was this handsome stranger with so much nerves? ***** When Ava's mother fell ill, Ava vowed to go to the ends of the earth to save her. Ava got more shattered after finding her boyfriend in bed with her best friend. With her boyfriend's betrayal fresh in her mind, Ava moved on with a promise to lock her heart from any man. But the moon goddess has another plan for her. Dylan Gibson, the Savage Alpha had set his eyes on her. She had something he wanted. Something no one else could give him. Will Ava find love or she's just a means to an end?

He was about to lean in when I put my fingers on his lips to stop him. He looked at me surprised. I too was surprised over my own actions, not only was I turning down something that I wanted, but I was turning the man that I loved down. I knew that it maybe was a once in a lifetime opportunity. He could regain back his past memory and hate me for loving him. On the other hand, it would be a beginning of a great romance, either ways it felt so wrong to do anything with him in his current condition. "We need to bath okay," I said in a whisper. He took a step backward, his eyes slowly roaming all over my body making me uncomfortable. "You don't remember how to do anything right? I asked stupidly trying to strike a conversation with him. "This is crazy," I whispered to myself hopelessly.

When my brother Beau Campbell and I drowned together at the age of four, I was the only one who survived. From that day on, my mother came to loathe me. She would often creep into my room at night with colorful "candies" in her hand, trying to pry open my mouth. However, Dad always stopped her just in time. Later, I cut off my long hair and threw away all my dresses, desperately trying to become Beau's shadow. Only then would Mom spare me a glance. Three years passed, and Mom got pregnant again. She said it was Beau coming back to us. I was happy for her and told myself it was good that Beau was back. After all, it also meant this family no longer needed the stand-in who had lived in his place. So, I found the same "candies" Mom once tried to force into my mouth, and I quietly swallowed them.

Eighteen and desperate due to my mother's illness, I enter the orbit of Enzo Lombardi, a powerful, feared mafia boss. He treats me with impossible sweetness, and I find myself sinking into his possessive love and lavish spoiling. Everything changes the day a woman named Isabella Gallo shows up. She claims she's the one Enzo truly loves, and she laughs as she slides a two-million-dollar check across the table, demanding that I leave him. I turn down the money. She then suggests we both send him a message at the same time and see who he cares about more. Holding on to one last bit of hope, I text Enzo that I'm in a car accident. Isabella, on the other hand, tells him her plane is about to land. I wait for his reply, but nothing comes. Instead, I watch as Isabella picks up his call. At that moment, I understood it was time for me to go.

On our seventh wedding anniversary, I was straddling my Mafia husband, Lucian, kissing him deeply. My fingers fumbled in the pocket of my expensive silk dress, searching for the pregnancy test I'd hidden there. I wanted to save the news of my unexpected pregnancy for the end of the evening. Lucian's right-hand man, Marco, asked with a suggestive smile in Italian: "Don, your new little canary, Sophia. How does she taste?" Lucian's mocking laughter vibrated through my chest, sending a chill down my spine. He replied, also in Italian: "Like an unripe peach. Fresh and tender." His hand was still caressing my waist, but his gaze was distant. "Just keep this between us. If my Donna finds out, I'm a dead man." His men chuckled knowingly, raising their glasses and swearing their silence. The warmth in my blood turned to ice, inch by inch. The one thing they didn’t know was that my grandmother was from Sicily, so I understood every word. I forced myself to remain calm, keeping the perfect smile of a Donna fixed in place, but the hand holding my champagne flute trembled. Instead of making a scene, I opened my phone, found the invitation I had received a few days ago for a private international medical research project, and tapped "Accept." In three days, I would disappear from Lucian's world completely.

His hand pressed against the wall beside my head, his breath hot against my ear. “You’re blushing again, professor,” Ace whispered, his voice low, sinful. I swallowed, trying to steady myself, but my body betrayed me, arching towards him, aching for more. “You’re too close,” I managed, my voice unsteady. He smirked, brushing his lips over my jaw, slow and deliberate. “Then tell me to stop.” I should have. God, I should have... Instead, I tangled my fingers in his hair and pulled him to me. His mouth crashed over mine, hungry and rough, and the world outside his disappeared. I thought living with him would be the worst decision of my life. Turns out, it might be the hottest. -- -- -- I needed a roommate. What I got was Ace, tattooed, arrogant, and infuriatingly gorgeous. He breezed into my apartment like he owned it, with that cocky smile and a body that makes focusing on my studies nearly impossible. The walls are thin. Too thin. Every night, I hear things I shouldn’t. And worse… I start fantasizing about things I shouldn't. I tell myself that he’s a distraction I can’t afford but when he offers to tutor me in things that have nothing to do with textbooks, I’m not sure I can resist. One touch. One kiss. One lesson I’ll never forget. Living with Ace was meant to be temporary. Falling for him? That was never part of the plan.